Amazon wants to ship you products BEFORE you order them

Online retailer Amazon is planning to ship orders to customers before they have even pressed the ‘buy’ button’.

Wall Street Journal reports that the company has applied to patent for a method called anticipatory shipping”, the function of which is to minimise the wait between ordering and receiving to such an extent that the urge to visit the High Street is eroded even further.

The technique uses data gathered from previous orders, product searches, cart contents and even the amount of time your mouse hovers over the buy button to anticipate future orders.

Said goods can then be sent to a distribution centre local to the customer.

There could even be the facility for delivery labels to be completed mid-transit should an order be completed when the product is on the way to a local warehouse.

Amazon may also highlight products on route to a local centre to customers, the theory being that this may encourage purchases.